Argentine polo pony breeding boosted by biotech (AFP)

Thursday, March 31, 2011 12:47 AM By dwi

LINCOLN, Argentina (AFP) – Argentina is vastly expanding its nurture of its concern collection polo ponies thanks to the ingest of brute transfers that help breeders intend the most from their top-performing mares and stallions.

The newborn engineering framework has helped process the sort of breeders of polo ponies in the South American commonwealth from 350 in 2001 to 630 today, and has boosted exports of the Polo Argentino horses multiple between 2006 and 2010, according to the consultancy Unicorn SA.

What is revolutionizing nurture is the ingest of substitute mares -- which don't hit to be polo ponies.

The framework is relatively simple: the stallion's sperm is utilised to fertilise the mare. Seven days after the egg is fertilized, the brute is taken discover and transplanted into the uterus of the substitute mare, which then carries the foal to term.

This allows the top-notch mares, which normally crapper exclusive give relationship to octad foals in a lifetime as the gestation punctuation in horses is 11 months, to display 30 to 40 babies, or five to 12 annually.

In added benefit, the natural mothers don't hit to interrupt their polo activities patch the surrogates are carrying their offspring. Pregnant mares crapper exclusive be safely ridden for the prototypal sextet months of the pregnancy.

"What the breeders are purchase from us is time," said Fernando Riera, someone of the Dona Pilar Centre for Equine Reproduction in Lincoln, whatever 300 kilometers (200 miles) westerly of Buenos Aires on the Argentina pampas.

The procedure -- which is also utilised in the reserved worlds of champion horse-racing and show-jumping -- allows breeders to interbreed the prizewinning pedigrees and increase their chances of obtaining a winner.

The termination crapper look a bit strange.

"See they don't modify resemble apiece other," said Riera, pointing to a chestnut part in a earth nuzzling her black Argentinian polo pony.

But he denied this was messing with the natural order of things to create newborn super horses, locution "we are meet serving things along."

At the Argentinian Open Polo Championships in Palermo, the biggest circumstance in the sport, "more than half of the horses are from (transplanted) embryos," says Riera, who was drilled in the framework in the United States.

He said in whatever cases, the mares endeavor in the same matches alongside their offspring.

At the La Martona Club de Campo whatever 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Buenos Aires, hierarch Schwenger and her son Helge were on a meet to acquire polo ponies for her edifice nearby Berlin.

"For a equid of the same quality, we would clear a aggregation more in Germany," said Helge Schwenger, adding the outlay was ease modify modify if the buyer has to clear to fly a rendering back to Europe.

"It's beatific business for us to hit these Argentinian polo ponies," said hierarch Schwenger, who bought a equid named Primavera (Spring) for $8,000. "People are attracted by the calibre of the horses."

The Schwengers thoughtful purchase horses from Chile and Uruguay, but said they did not find the same nurture calibre as the Argentinian ponies.

"They are easier to manage, they hit a enthusiastic case and they are not likewise nervous. For beginners, there is nothing better," hierarch said.

Marcos Heguy, who breeds hundreds horses at a edifice whatever 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the capital, said the brute transfers are a beatific assist for breeders.

"In polo, we hit exclusive legs and reins," said Heguy, who comes from a distinction of breeders of champion horses that delude for up to $100,000.

"With so little, the equid must be healthy to react rattling apace if it is to win."


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